


Beneath the Ocean Blue

by dawnoftime



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: First Kiss, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Ryan Bergara Being an Idiot, Ryan Bergara Loves Shane Madej, Shane Madej Being an Idiot, Shane Madej Loves Ryan Bergara, Siren! Ryan Bergara, dancing!!, siren!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:20:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23419666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dawnoftime/pseuds/dawnoftime
Summary: Ryan and Shane go investigating the mysterious drownings of the Ocean Men:"You’re telling me, that… Mermaids made most of the boats crash somewhere near here?”“I did not use the term mermaids, I used sirens, which are different!” Ryan did seem offended at the fact that Shane got the terms confused, but he didn’t pay any mind, just like he paid no mind to either name and if they were interchangeable.“Yeah, yeah- Just tell me, they crashed here?”“Somewhere on the coast, yeah. Maybe not this spot, but they found one of the bodies on this beach.” Shane nodded at the explanation.“Want to go explore, big guy?”  Ryan said as he got up from the foldable chair, the other now looking up at the one standing up, Shane felt unusual like that.“Yeah, sure.” He shrugged, also getting up so he could be taller again, Shane grabbed the camera as always while Ryan had his GoPro.OR: Ryan and Shane go have an adventure and they see life tinted in blue.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	Beneath the Ocean Blue

**Author's Note:**

> this took me way longer than expected!! i hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoyed writing it!
> 
> also, if i link something, please consider clicking on it since i am not too good explaining things, so you can have a visual guide. 
> 
> also, please consider listening to my playlist while reading:  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1m2c6HsvwN3p6fE04oKAOA?si=iSbU6Sy-T1Gn3Xbpw2Bapg

They drove to the beach, it looked cloudy but if they did this business fast they hoped the rain wasn't going to catch them while filming.  
  
“This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we’re covering the mysterious drownings of the Ocean Men.”  
  
“Ooh! I’m excited, I can’t wait.”  
  
“So with that said let’s get into these stories-” And Ryan went into his usual spiel, Shane bantering back from time to time. Up until then Shane didn’t question why they were filming this on the beach, but when Ryan finished his second theory it became clear.  
  
“You’re telling me, that… Mermaids made most of the boats crash somewhere near here?”  
  
“I did not use the term mermaids, I used sirens, which are different!” Ryan did seem offended at the fact that Shane got the terms confused, but he didn’t pay any mind, just like he paid no mind to either name and if they were interchangeable.  
  
“Yeah, yeah- Just tell me, they crashed here?”

“Somewhere on the coast, yeah. Maybe not this spot, but they found one of the bodies on this beach.” Shane nodded at the explanation.  
  
“Want to go explore, big guy?” Ryan said as he got up from the foldable chair, the other now looking up at the one standing up, Shane felt unusual like that.  
  
“Yeah, sure.” He shrugged, also getting up so he could be taller again, Shane grabbed the camera as always while Ryan had his GoPro.  
  
They decided to split up for the first few minutes, but Shane quickly realized what a bad idea that was once it started to rain heavily, making it unable to film properly. He decided to head back to the spot they had filmed on, worried about his friend, none of them were prepared for this.

"Ryan! buddy, where are you?" Shane cried out, it wasn't helping that he decided to wear his glasses that day. He kept walking, his footsteps sinking further and further down into the sand, he heard a scream that sounded awfully familiar- "Ryan!"  
  
He couldn't distinguish his tears from the sky's, but when had he started crying? Was he truly crying or was it just a thought created by his brain? “Ryan, it isn’t funny! Did you scream- Was that you? Ryan!” He called out his name, still desperate to find his friend to get out of the cold rain in California. It rarely rained there, why today?  
  
“Shane~”  
  
That was when he heard his name being called by the sea, or the general direction of it, he saw someone there, peacefully standing.  
  
“Shane…” The name was called once again, this time he heard it clearly, it sounded melodic almost, he squinted his eyes: ‘ _Damn water_ ’ he thought as he tried to notice who was standing there by the beach.  
  
That’s when he registered it, Ryan was right there, standing besides the water but his GoPro was gone, Shane left the camera with their belongings, TJ and Mark were bound to show up soon enough and they’ll see the equipment, no one else was on that beach anyway to steal it.

He started running towards the water but Ryan never was in his reach, always slipping away a little further, but he kept running and he felt his ankles get wet and he stopped to realize the situation: Ryan was going further into the sea, “Ryan, what the fuck are you doing?” Ryan stopped and turned, smiling coyly but also smugly at the same time (‘ _What the fuck_ ’ thought Shane once more, but he didn’t voice it) “Come on big guy, you’re going to be fine.”  
  
“Ryan, this isn’t funny anymore-” He still kept walking, trying to stop Ryan from going further but he was always slipping away, his glasses make it hard to even see where he is going at this point. His knees are now soaked in sea water, but he wasn’t backing out, not now.  
  


Shane was soaked up to his arms, but head still above water, he then saw Ryan’s head disappear and panicked raised, it was raining he probably shouldn’t have done this: ‘ _oh no_ ’ were the words repeated in his head. “Rya-!” He tried to scream.  
  
Something started dragging him down in the waters, he quickly started kicking at the thing, but apparently it held on stronger. He tried to scream something out, but water started getting in his lungs. He felt how the thing moved it’s point of holding to his waist, he tried turning around then to see what was holding him, still kicking and that’s when he saw him.

_Ryan._  
  
Ryan was holding him steady, dragging him down, apparently not having any trouble breathing, “Ryan-” Shane spoke out of habit but water may have been something that was being introduced to his lungs and it burnt like hell. His glasses slowly floating above his nose.  
  
“Don’t worry, you’re safe with me.” Ryan whispered into Shane’s ear, Shane struggled but the hold tightened. “Shh, you can sleep, Shane. It’s going to be ok soon, alright big guy?”  
  
Shane tried once more, but he felt weak and hurt and he closed his eyes to maybe accept his final fate, he saw deep blue and finally fell unconscious.  
  
Ryan softly kissed him to give the other some oxygen until they arrive to their destination, _humans are so weird and wonderful._  
  


* * *

Shane woke up to a cozy comforter over him, but he did feel quite cold nonetheless. _Wait, did I fall asleep? When?_ were the questions to first enter his brain, he took off the cover and quickly looked around and all he saw was a blur, he cursed himself for wearing glasses on the shoot. He got up and noticed something more, he had different clothes on and was in a different room completely. It was neither his nor Ryan’s- wait, _Ryan_ .  
  
He decided to get up and put on his glasses, then he just... walked around the spacious room that he was in, a bed in the middle of the wall which was quite standard but the bed was probably a queen? it was big, a drawer ( _probably full of clothes_ , he thought to himself) a mirror that was quite tall, a big curtain covering the entire back wall. Fairy lights all over the room, giving it a light blue glow. He got close to the mirror to look at himself, and- _Damn, uh…_

A black top with a white poet like open shirt over it, his legs in black like skinny trousers ( _or maybe just leggins?_ Shane didn't tell the difference either way). His feet had nothing, and he felt the cold ground beneath. _I look like Hozier_ was an association his brain made, which was quite accurate but he barely listened to Hozier, where did he get that from? Sara, maybe?  
  
_Wait, Shane this isn’t the time to ponder about things like that_ , he scolded himself, he then wondered why was it so dark? And why is the curtain covering an entire wall?  
Well, he would answer that later. He first needed to find a way to get out of that room, he tried to see if there was a door, all rooms have doors, right? Well wrong, that room apparently had _no_ doors, or at least visible ones. He decided to check behind the curtain to see if the door was-  
  
_Wait, holy shit, am I underwater?_ He looked through the window (well, more like _windows_ , they were 4 just together, there was a small couch that fit right in the spot), not fully uncovering it, mesmerized by the beautiful views of an underwater city beneath him. He wouldn’t mind staying there for a while _if_ he wasn’t brought here against his will.  
  
He looked at the wall opposite the window, the room looked much more bright, the wall was covered with art and of _course_ The Great Wave was there to haunt him. There was also a suspicious amount of artistic polaroids of places he could recognize, but he couldn’t quite place from where or how.  
  
As he took everything in again, he heard a muffled voice giving orders, then a door was being materialized from between the frames and it opened ( _underwater technology?_ Shane decided to ask later), when he saw the person that entered he froze.

“Shane! You’re finally awake, I was getting worried.” Ryan spoke, he was wearing the exact same clothing that he wore before he started dragging Shane down.  
  
_Wait, Ryan dragged Shane down. And Ryan didn’t look human while doing so, he looked like a fish. Wait, is that even possible?_  
“Shane-?”  
  
“What the fuck?” Was the only thing that could come out of Shane’s mouth at that moment. It didn’t even sound that angry, more like… disappointed (maybe even sad) that his best friend would literally drag him to the bottom of the ocean to drown him. “Why the fuck did you do that? I-I thought we were friends? Ryan, I-” Shane wasn’t maybe the most emotional person on Earth, but this may be too much for his brain to handle, he felt himself shaking, wet trails leaving his eyes.  
  
“Shane, please,” Ryan got closer, Shane took a step back, shaking his head. “Listen to me, this is important.”  
  
“Bullshit! You didn’t have to take me-” He started coughing, a hiccup also coming through. Ryan stepped closer, his arms open. “Don’t- Don’t touch me!” Shane raised his voice.  
  
Ryan stopped moving, sighing, “Big guy-”  
  
“Don’t even call me that-”  
  
“Shane, let me explain.”  
  
Shane shook his head, “Get out.”  
  
“Shane, I-”  
  
“Get. Out. Now.” Shane pressed, Ryan nodded, sighing.  
  
“I’ll see you later then.” Ryan said before leaving, the door started closing and as Shane ran to it, it was already gone.  
  
“Let me out!” He started banging on the wall, crying out the words, painfully calming down. He was there until his fists screamed in pain back, and he decided to slide down against that same wall and curl up and cry, let everything drain.  
  
The curtain was still slightly open, the ocean didn’t give off the ‘day’ like glow like a few hours before, in fact it could have been considered creepy if it weren’t for the hundreds of underwater city lights that were further into the landscape. He felt himself relax, or at least not be as tense as before.  
  
“I’m sorry, I don’t want to be here…” He whispered to himself, he felt his throat get tight as he said it. He stayed against that wall curled up, not answering to anything finally falling asleep.  
  
“I’m sorry I brought you here.” Ryan whispered back from the other side of the wall, not knowing if Shane heard it.  
  


* * *

Shane woke up in his bed after the incident. The fact that someone put him in bed was annoying, he wanted to just throw the bed out the window. He actually got up as fast as he could and- To no avail, he couldn’t lift it up. Or a) it was extremely heavy or b) it was just stuck to the floor, either way he was unable to throw any of the furniture at himself or at the giant window behind the- _Wait the curtains are also drawn back_ , he noted that.  
  
He couldn’t even hang a ‘Don’t enter’ sign on his door because it appeared whenever it wanted or probably someone from the outside had to get inside.

He sighed, and started mumbling ‘stupid bed, stupid room, stupid life…’ and everything was stupid to him in that moment, maybe it was just a circumstance of him having a temper tantrum but alas, he was there stuck in a room that was awfully pretty but he felt trapped in that room. He got up and again put on his glasses, he still wore the same as yesterday- Or er, maybe today? He didn’t have a watch in the- _My phone!_ Shane panicked for a second, welp, that was his end, he didn’t have any way to contact the other crew members of where he was. Well, he wouldn’t be able to contact them either way, he was stuck under water after all, unless they have some water signaling wifi.  
  
Shane got up and opened the curtain, and it was dark. But completely, barely any lights coming in. He looked up to try and see the surface, but he only saw the vague moon like shape on the sky. He decided to sit on the sofa to contemplate the views and maybe stop worrying, that was until he heard a soft knock on the wall and the door reappeared.  
  
“If you’re Ryan, be careful on what you say. If you are anyone else, be welcome.” He said, and the door opened softly.  
  
“Hey,” Ryan entered the room, closing the door behind him, but it didn’t disappear this time.  
  
“Please, don’t try to reason anything now. Too tired to process anything.”  
  
“N-” Ryan hesitated for a second, “No, just here to give you your uh… Clothes and belongings all dried. Your phone doesn’t work though, I assume it doesn’t have battery though, we had it connected earlier and it worked so-”  
  
“You had… My phone?”  
  
“Well, to fix it due to water issues, yeah. We had to make it waterproof, as you can tell.”  
  
Shane nodded slowly, “You can leave it on the drawers.” Ryan was the one that nodded now, and he left the things on top of the drawers. “Thanks for bringing it here.”  
  
“Yeah, no problem, I’ll get going then.” The shorter one gave a weak smile and started to head out, but before he did Shane called out:  
  
“Ry- Ryan, I need you to tell me something.”  
  
“Yeah?” He turned to face Shane again, he saw the other sitting peacefully on the couch and the ocean behind him, he would take a polaroid picture of the moment.  
  
“Uh… Would you hurt me?”  
  
Ryan gave him the wide eyed look, surprised. “Dude, no! I would never. I swear.”  
  
Shane nodded again, turning away from looking at Ryan. “Alright, thanks for telling me.”  
  
They were silent until Shane heard the door open and then softly close, but he didn’t hear it go away, he turned to meet the wall opposite him and surely, the door was there.  
  
He approached it, and pushed it: it opened. _Oh this is great._  
  
He decided to take a peak in the hallway, it was completely dark. He started walking out slowly and silently, he felt the cold floor underneath his feet and he heard the low sounding patter of his steps. He looked back at the door, it didn’t appear to be closing anytime soon, so he continued venturing further the Hallway. From time to time a window would appear to reveal another side of the city that he could see from his window, he would stop and admire the views, but he noticed how something had started materializing, and it looked like a bubble before the window. He took a few steps back, and that’s when he heard some _very_ concerned and worried voices.  
  
_“Duke Bergara will fucking destroy us, we were supposed to take the night watch!”_ He heard the voice coming nearer, with various footsteps, he had to act quick.  
  
And he did.  
  
He spotted a knight armour that wasn’t complete, and the legs weren’t even legs- Well, that was for another time, he had to improvise. He ‘draped’ himself against the armor as if it were a modern type of statue.  
  
_“Well, we’re quite fucked if we don’t find that guy. I mean, he’s tall as fuck how hard can it be?”_ The other replied, they hurried past him, turning on a corner that Shane was planning to turn on but now the plan was: _go back to the fucking room before they find you_.  
  
He quickly gathered himself, and maybe just started speed walking from the way he- Wait, which one was it? He didn’t remember being there two hallways before.  
He was screwed. _Wait, did they say Duke Bergara?_  
  
“I had guards there for a reason, he can’t get lost! He’s still not ready!” _Now that voice was familiar territory_ , but shame he was in plain sight.  
  
Ryan turned to face him, the person beside him stopped stunned when they saw Shane just there, disheveled, kind of taken by surprise.  
  
“Holy shit Shane, you scared me.” Ryan calmly said, he didn’t even look mad. They held eye contact for a while, until the shorter one decided to speak again: “I know this may be hard, but I’ll need you to come back to your room. I’ll explain everything there, yeah?” He spoke in a hushed, calm tone.  
  
Shane didn’t feel good about that.  
  
Either way, Ryan excused himself from the conversation he was having and he escorted Shane to his room, when they both entered he closed the door again. “I was worried!” He didn’t yell, but he did raise his voice. Shane went straight to sitting on the bed.  
  
“Sorry, I just wanted to go out-”  
  
“Yeah, I got that. Look I get it that you may not like it here, but I need you to cooperate with me. We’re slowly upgrading our equipment to be human friendly too and have to give out artifacts that can create legs for guards to be here.”  
  
Shane was listening to the explanation, but he was clearly zoning out of it. _What the fuck_ was again repeated multiple times in his mind, but he did form a question this time:  
“Human proof?”  
  
“Well yeah, sirens mostly live in water, I’m the exception clearly.”  
  
“S-Sirens?” Shane choked out, no, yeah, he might break down again.  
  
“Oh, I never- Shane, oh bud. Ok, one fact at a time. I’m a siren, well half siren: my father is human- Shane, don’t freak out.” Shane was _trying_ not to do so, his entire worldview was supposed to change? Well, this is _bad_ , at least for his mind in a sense. Ryan’s instincts came in and he hugged Shane when he noticed the other man not speaking for quite a while.  
  
“Ok, this must be hard, just breathe with me. Focus on one thing at a time, and that is breathing for now.”  
  
Yeah, and Shane breathed.  
  


“Good, ok, you’re doing great.” Ryan whispered, softly ‘petting’ Shane’s hair, which seemed to calm down further the other. “Yeah, there we go.” He continued, softly speaking.  
  
“I’m good, I’m good, Ry. You can talk.” Shane whispered back, the first few lights in the city outside started to wake up for work (probably), but the room they were in stayed still quite dim, _intimate_ would be a good way to describe it.  
  
“You sure?” Ryan let go, but still was close enough to Shane to notice how soft he looked.  
  
Of course Shane nodded and dismissed the talking about his feelings part, _he always did that_ Ryan thought, and maybe he wasn’t wrong. 

“Shane,” Shane looked at him in the eyes. _Damn, were they always amber or is it just the lightning?_ “I am half siren.”  
  
“I got that far, yeah.”  
  
“My mother is like a cousin of the royals here, making me a Duke of sorts.”  
  
“ _A Duke?”_ Shane asked bewildered, acting like he hasn’t heard guards calling the other Duke Bergara, that’s a story for later surely. “Duke Ryan Bergara?”  
  
“Listen, I myself don’t know how it works. I can’t offer good enough explanations.” Ryan laughed, Shane soon after joining in.  
  
They soon settled down and looked at each other all smiley.  
  
They talked and cleared things up.  
  
They understood.

* * *

After a week Shane was allowed to roam freely around the ‘castle’. He realized it wasn’t a castle, it’s a mansion or palace, since it isn’t used for war. Nice.  
  
Shane was still following his bare feet trend in outfits, he felt grounded when touching the floor. He had some black jeans on (very similar to leggins things but these had pockets, so that's progress), _the_ black turtleneck and the denim jacket over it. A standard Shane for now, because he was supposed to meet with Ryan to discuss their later meeting with the ‘higher ups’ in the ‘kingdom’ (Shane still doesn’t get it, but he’s getting there).  
  
Ryan chose Shane as the human representative in the ‘court’, ever since Ryan’s parents moved to live on land (due to his father mainly) the court didn’t have any human representation. Which was bad if the siren population wanted to move to land but couldn’t due to the lack of information or such.  
  
Apart from that his mother’s part of the family wanted to meet Ryan again and talk to his new ‘boy toy’. Ryan kept explaining that there was nothing between them, just friendship. One of his cousins countered that the way Ryan looked at the co-host wasn’t just a friend thing, because that’s how she looked at her husband.  
  
Shane walked to the dining hall where Ryan stood talking to some knights, his pink hoodie on, black jeans and he had- wait, he was also barefoot! Ryan Bergara was barefoot like Shane and it probably has no bearing to him, but he was delighted to see that Ryan tried to do something Shane did. He felt weirdly endeared.

He got closer, Ryan finally noticing him and ending the conversation with the knights and going to Shane’s side, “Well hello! I think this might be a new record for arriving on time. Only 10 minutes late!”  
  
“Listen, this place is fucking big, can’t expect me to get from point A to point B in 3 minutes because I can run.”  
  
“Shane, you were already in this room, _you_ decided to leave to look for something.”  
  
“Yeah, but I couldn’t find it-”  
  
“What did you even want to find?”  
  
“The 3 feet you lack to be average height.” Shane snickered as he finished his statement, Ryan tried not to laugh but he slowly gave in, starting to laugh too.  
  
They looked at each other for a few seconds later, then they decided to sit down to eat, bantering normally.  
  
“You’ll have to dress formally. Or, hm, you can actually wear the turtleneck just change the jacket” Ryan seemed to want to continue on some subject but he seemed to hesitate, he finally spoke up: “I’ll have to order you a tailor though.”  
  
Shane looked up from his food, eyebrows raised and surprised, he swallowed. “Oh? Am I missing something here?”  
  
“Not missing anything for now,” Ryan smiled, he dove back into his food “You’ll see.”  
  
In that moment Shane realized: he might be missing the life on land and Obi and-  
  
“Shane, you’re worrying again. I contacted the Buzzfeed Offices beforehand that we’re going to be gone for a while due to health and family issues, had to fight or that one. Also Matt got a key to feed Obi.”

Shane looked at him wide eyes, but right after they turned gentle, a smile starting to appear on his lips. “You really are prepared for anything.”  
  


* * *

“We are gathered here to discuss the task at matter: the ball.” Spoke the king, he eyed the table and took everyone in. “Well, it also appears that Duke Bergara has returned, and with company!” Cheers erupted in the room, Ryan was blushing and trying to hide his face meanwhile Shane was laughing, but pink also was present upon his cheeks.  
  
Ryan got up and cleared his throat: “Since I know that this is an important celebration for some people in my family, I’ll be taking my mother’s place in the Court” He then gestured to Shane to get up, the other did as ordered, kind of looking awkward “This is Shane Alexander Madej, he will be the human representation in the Court and Ball for the time being.” He finished, Shane bowed slightly as practiced before (“Each time I say your full name, take a small bow. It means you acknowledge that you have been called upon” were the words that Ryan said to him).  
  
The king nodded and grinned wider: “Great to see that at least one of the Bergaras will be here for the Ball! We’ll record it all as always and send it to your mother.” Ryan nodded, and sat down, Shane also did in tow. “And I’m glad that we finally have some, even if temporary, humans in Court. I hope you enjoy your stay here.” Shane nodded, and Ryan smiled at him when they made contact.  
  
They were managing through this, in one way or another, but they were.  
  
The meeting concluded with them confirming that the Ball will be in two weeks time, Ryan was going to initiate it (since it was his first time at one, and first time the Bergara family is back) and if possible, that he should have the first dance of the evening.  
  
Which was, sure, kind of an honour to him but also very scary because he has 0 skills in ballroom dancing and he has _no_ idea on who to choose as his partner for the dance.  
  
And then he had an idea.

* * *

Ryan had asked Shane to come to his room for the first time, but it wasn’t anything special really, a tailor and a designer were needed to make Shane a suit (or dress if the designer thought it was convenient) fitting enough for the event. He agreed without any fights, Shane knocked on the door and just when he heard ‘Come in!’ he opened it.  
  
Ryan was being measured by some (quite stylish) man at the time, meanwhile a woman that looked like the man’s sister, or maybe daughter, was drawing something in her notebook vigorously, Ryan smiled at him from his stand in the room. It was spacious too, the bed was similar to Shane’s in that sense, the room also had a wall that was glass but there was no sofa dent for it. His walls were a light blue undertone, but they also seemed to be decorated with multiple photos and artwork of sorts, but unlike Shane: he had a desk. Shane silently scoffed at the idea but quickly forgot to sound salty when Ryan started to speak again:  
  
“That’s Shane, the human I told you about. Like I said, he’s very tall-” The designer took a look at him and smiled, “Shane, this is Perigale and his sister Astenoire, they’re the uh… Royal Tailors?” Now the man took a look at Shane and raised his eyebrows:  
  
“You have… Much leg, Aste notes qu'il a beaucoup de jambe.” Perigale spoke, they appeared to be A) canadian or B) french, probably the former since _France is quite away from the USA to be honest_ , Shane thought (it as quite a dumb thought, but alright), the woman wrote it down on another piece of paper that was set on Ryan’s desk, on which she was leaning against.  
  
“Right when they’re done with me, they’ll take measurements of you- I think they’re about to finish, so you don’t have to worry, won’t be too long.” The two ‘sirens’ ( _can you even call them that when they have legs?_ Shane asked himself) nodded, almost in unison. Perigale kept chanting numbers in french to his sister, she would note them down and keep at her design, which seemed to work seamlessly because soon after Shane entered, they were done with Ryan and he was flooded by Perigale asking him to come to where Ryan was standing seconds ago.  
  
He stood there, Ryan silently laughing as Shane kind of got manhandled by the tailor, he was standing next to Astenoire looking on what she was drawing for Shane, smiling brightly, sometimes making a comment on something in a whispery tone so that Shane doesn’t overhear.  
  
“Alright! You’re done! We’ll have the… Uh, suits?” The tailor looked back at his sister, she nodded proudly. “The suits will be ready for the ball, we’ll give each of you a ‘rough draft’ of them later on to practice your dancing and such and see if it is comfortable enough.” He finished speaking, Ryan smiled and nodded, Shane did the same.  
  
The Royal Tailors left the room soon enough, and both Shane and Ryan were left alone in the room.  
  
“You’ll look so nice in the outfit that Astenoire designed for you, you’ll look like a prince.” Ryan laughed softly, his face glimmering with pure and innocent joy, like a kid.  
  
“To be honest, that would be anticlimactic, you’re the Duke here sir.” Shane replied, with the same childish happiness.  
  
They looked at each other for a moment, they erupted into laughter together once more, but this time Ryan decided to get close to Shane and hug him while still laughing, _an odd gesture, but sure_ Shane thought: it wasn’t so odd anymore once Shane hugged back and Ryan quickly picked him up-  
  
“Ry- RYAN! This isn’t-” Shane was certainly confused, well that was until Ryan started speaking.  
  
“Oh no! A Prince in distress over being anticlimactic because I’m the Duke! Somebody save him!”  
  
“Ryan put me down, you won’t be able to handle all the limb!”  
  
“Try to make me, big guy-”  
  
They had their fun, in that moment. They landed on Ryan’s bed just giggling, Ryan looked at Shane in the eyes: he never noticed how happy those sad eyes could look.  
  
“I wanted to ask you something-”  
  
There were heavy knocks on the door, and both men quickly scrambled away from each other as if they were doing something inappropriate.  
  
“Duke Bergara, you’re needed for dance practice!” The guard opened the door, he squinted at Shane but Ryan immediately nodded.  
  
“Alright, I’ll get going in a second.” The guard nodded and closed the door.  
  
Shane was looking at the floor, his cheeks slightly pink as if he were ashamed. “I’ll get going then,”  
  
Ryan nodded, kind of feeling disappointed but he didn’t want to be late for practice.  
  
“I’ll see you at dinner, little guy.” Shane said, exiting the room, softly closing the door behind him.  
  
Ryan felt as if one of his most cherished memories was ripped from his hands as he watched Shane exit, when did he start caring that much?  
  
_“Sir, we have to-”_ _  
_ _  
_ “Coming!” Ryan answered, turning off the light in his room and following the guard to practice, he still had to choose who to dance with. Or maybe he just had to ask the person if they could dance with him.

* * *

Soft moments like the one in Ryan’s room became more present during the first week leading up to the Ball.  
  
Like watching Shane be his youngest niece’s rag doll, just so she can see how good her makeup is (or how good her skills are), to which the answer is: it’s hella good (just like the kid’s skills, thank you beauty gurus or something along those lines).  
Shane would walk with the makeup on the entire day, even accompanied Ryan to practice, as always he wasn’t allowed to enter but just as Ryan was going to pop up the question about the dance: his instructor came out the door to usher him into the room.  
  


Or how they stayed in Shane’s sofa window thing talking about everything and nothing, Shane’s face softly illuminated by blue dim lighting, just the same as Ryan’s. Both of them almost dozing off, maybe it was a heartfelt truth when Ryan said:  
  
_“You’re amazing, Shane, thank you for being here.”_ _  
_ _  
_ And maybe it was enough of a reply when Shane whispered:  
  
_“Thank you for bringing me here, even if it was kind of against my will. You’re pretty amazing yourself Ry.”_

The next morning they went to see if the drafted outfits were good enough, but they promised not to look at each other while the try ons happened, well, Ryan already might have seen what Shane was going to wear but he didn’t it _on_ the body so technically it was still game.  
  
“Ryan, I feel like a prince!” He said through the curtains, but Ryan still covered his eyes, laughing at the other.  
  
“Well that’s the point, you’re with royalty here, big guy.”  
  
He heard Shane wanting to reply, but Astenoire quickly shushed him: “Quiet, quiet! Need tweaking sleeves, here- You breathe ok? Not too tight?” Ryan didn’t hear an answer, so he just assumed that he nodded, Astenoire kept murmuring and he noticed that he never heard Shane be so quietly _calm_. Astenoire quickly left the changing booth and ordered Shane to change back, but carefully, so that the pins don’t fall.

  
Shane was shuffling inside the little changing booth and going back into his normal clothing, he handed the clothes back to the designer and he came out with the widest grin. “Oh, you’ll be surprised how good I look in blue!”  
  
“Well, it’ll be a nice one at least.” Ryan’s cheeks might have started hurting from smiling so much, but he just felt happy to see Shane enjoying himself. Maybe he was also happy that he was part of Shane’s happy memory.  
  


Another moment that Ryan cherished was surely when Shane came into his room late at night with the excuse of: ‘I haven’t seen you today, so I came to visit’ and even if they both were in pyjamas, Ryan put on a [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1m2c6HsvwN3p6fE04oKAOA?si=DOL8WVz-SVKXuyaTDGLwaw) to play softly. And maybe he was absolutely smitten when Mamma Mia came on and Shane got up from his spot on the floor and started dancing and singing along, and maybe that was when he realized he has fallen.  
  
(Or maybe it was because Shane offered his hand to dance, and he took it, and Shane looked absolutely smitten too.  
  
Or maybe it was when the song changed into something more slow and they changed the routine to softly swaying while holding each other, both hugging like those moments were your last ones on Earth.  
  
Or maybe it was when the song Adore You by Harry Styles came on and Ryan realized that maybe he just wanted to tell Shane:  
  
_“I'd walk through fire for you_

_Just let me adore you”_

Softly against his lips- Well, he had to stop that train of thought.)  
  
They were on Ryan’s bed, lying facing one another, Ryan didn’t have the heart to tell Shane to go back to his bedroom (nor did he want to in that matter), he watched as Shane closed his eyes and slowly fall asleep, and he soon did the same.  
  
If they cuddled that same night, they were the only ones to know.

* * *

“What do you _mean_ that you don’t have a partner to dance with? Just ask one of your cousins!” The dance instructor scolded Ryan. 

“I have someone in mind, but each time I try to ask them, someone interrupts us.”  
  
“Oh, they better know how to waltz, and if they don’t: I’ll murder you. The ball is tomorrow, we can’t have fucking slip ups.” The instructor said sharply, she was about to continue but Ryan interrupted.  
  
“I have an idea, but you’ll have to trust me with this one.”  
  
“Oh, if you fuck up, I’ll tell your mother it’s your fault and only yours.”  
  
Ryan nodded, and they went back to practicing like they always do.  
  
His plan was simple, as you can already tell.  
  
1\. Ask Shane to dance with him on the day.  
  
Yeah, it’s going to be improvised, except that he’ll ask the band to play a specific song that Shane would surely recall.  
  
Now it was just hoping it will work out.  
  


* * *

  
The next day the royal family was all up and about the city, people prepared for it for a long while, but no one expected the return of Duke Bergara and his _‘partner’_ (human one for that), the Human Representative, to be there.  
  
It was a great parade, they were supposed to dress formal (but not arrogantly) so Shane put on his normal suit he wore to the Emmys and Ryan did the same, they both gave each other knowing looks after they saw how they were dressed.  
  
Ryan had no problem walking up and about, what was one though, was that Shane had to breathe, so they quickly designed something kind of like a Hamsterball to let him walk the city (Ryan kept laughing because he might push Shane a little in the ball, and he would _fall_ all his limbs included, Shane didn’t find it as funny, but he adored the smile on Ryan’s face so he also smiled).  
  
As they came back, they chatted around with other family members that have come specifically for the Ball that would happen that same night, and as everyone gathered to eat lunch in the main dining room, and as the final members came in the king decided to stand up on his chair:  
  
“I wanted to thank everyone for coming here, I know it is hard with all the pollution lately, but we’re getting there.” Cheers erupted, “Well, I wanted to let you all know that the annual Ball will take place at the same time as always: 9pm sharp, but this time, we have a special person initiating it will be Duke Bergara!” More cheers letting themselves be known. “It’s the first time a Bergara has visited us, so thank you for coming Ryan!”  
  
The speech was finished and they all ‘lunched’, the room slowly having less and less people leaving to get ready for the celebration, Shane and Ryan were one of the few that were left to their own accord. They left the dining room and Ryan accompanied Shane to his ‘humble abode’ where he ‘slept sometimes’ and ‘got distracted by the sea’ other times.

“Well, I’m sure you have many things to do… So uh… I’ll see you at the… movies?” Shane tried, doing awkward finger guns but quickly putting those away.  
  
“Yeah big guy, you’ll see me at the movies.” He laughed, patting Shane on the shoulder and going to his own room to change, but not before going to the practice room with the musicians to request a small favour of them when they were going to do their first dance.  
  
He quickly exited the room, making a beeline to his own, knowing full well that one of the Tailors would be there to help him dress.  
  
“This will be quick if you help with the process.” Said Perigale, he was handed his [pink jumpsuit with floral like details sewn on it, a cape flowling in the behind part of his legs](https://www.pinterest.es/pin/642044490615421854/) (“ _Oh it’s for the first dance, it’ll look absolutely amazing, I tell you!”_ Perigale squealed “ _but you’ll be able to detach it after the dance so it’s more comfortable!”)_ , as he put the jumpsuit on he realized he looked way softer and more disheveled with his hair in that style.  
  
“The hairdressers will come soon, the makeup artist too. I’ll stay until the end so that we can attach that bad boy onto you-” Perigale signaled to the lighter pink fabric sprawled across his bed so it doesn’t get wrinkly.  
  
He wondered how was Shane doing at this time, and how did he look in the clothes that were given to him.  
  
He was soon cut out of his thoughts by semi familiar faces, which spoke to him as if he had the sunshine coming out of his ass but alas, his hair was taken care of (he washed it the day before and the same morning before the parade), his hair was lightly styled into his usual style (or kind of more refined version of it, but it still could be classified as ‘Ryan-esque’).  
  
While that was happening, the makeup artist came about and had organized Ryan’s bags under his eyes and they founded him and ‘whatever those makeup artists do that make you look pretty and decent’. He was amazed at the outcome, but when he heard that it was almost the time he wondered where it all went.  
  
He got up and Perigale smiled at him, “You know, my sister set out to supervise your human friend.” He said as he went to pick up the pink cape and made Ryan turn, “She said that he came to her once asking for dance advice, she was very weirded out, but she accepted.” Ryan felt the little ribbon being tied in place, so that meant that the cape was on, Perigale went to get his shoes: which were a pearly pink, that matched the details on the dress (as well as semi the cape), but he continued to talk:

“She said that the human spoke of you as a long time friend, he was absolutely smitten and she said that his eyes did the… Moon thing? When he spoke of you.” Ryan felt himself slightly blush at the comment, and Shane wasn’t even there to say it, it was Perigale that spoke.  
  
He maybe hasn’t even fallen, he probably walked side by side with Shane into this crush (‘ _You love him’_ his mind quietly supplied,) and he just didn’t realize it until now.  
  
“That’s… Nice.” Ryan couldn’t express how he felt in those moments, frankly. He just stood there, but still feeling small butterflies in his stomach, but he ignored it in order to put on the shoes.  
  
The tailor looked at his watch, “Oh, you have to get going! I’ll see you at the party.” He spoke, ushering Ryan out and himself out of the room.  
  
The mansion halls were dim, but the curtains were opened wide, letting the ocean be seen and letting the ocean see them in return.  
  
He walked towards the Ball room, Perigale long ago disappeared, people were already standing outside the doors waiting for the exact time to enter, Ryan arrived and saw the king raise his eyebrows at him: “Where’s your partner?” He whispered to Ryan once he was next to him.  
  
“Oh, about to be here I believe.” He said so, and that’s when he noticed Shane walking in the hallways, elegantly, delicately.

Shane was wearing a [navy blue top, surely adorned with multiple gold details and a sheer mesh over it, he had same navy blue trousers that were well fitted to his legs, a gold belt was around his waist framing it well](https://www.pinterest.es/pin/642044490615421865) too. Over that, a black coat with multiple flower like designs over it, and his shoes were also black to match. He did look like a prince, and the coat and belt were surely a new addition.  
  
Ryan was star struck, for sure.  
  
As the the local church bell started to resonate throughout the water, Ryan approached Shane with quickness, the multiple people in his way noticing the urgency and creating (or attempting to create) a small passageway for him to reach Shane.  
  
Shane stopped in his tracks with a worried glance, Ryan was slightly panting and some people were looking at them until the king started speaking:  
  
“Welcome to the annual ball everybody, we are here to celebrate the love and harmony of our kingdom once more, as we also will adore the gods of music and peace so as to guide as to a peaceful life and kingdom around us. This is a special edition, since it will be completely dry one since the Bergaras were here.” People clapped respectfully, knowing well that it was not the time to cheer (that was when the dance ended usually). “Now, without further ado, Duke Bergara will present his first dance in honour of Love, Peace and Harmony.”  
  
The people that didn’t know where he was seconds ago, surely knew now, he began to speak:  
  
“Shane Alexander Madej, please, let me have this dance with you.” He offered his hand, Shane smiled widely, and took it, Ryan noticing now that he had dark gloves that covered up until the middle of his palm.  
  
“I’d love to, Ryan Steven Bergara.” They walked up to the door, the king smiling slightly and opening the door for the dancers.  
  
The band noticing the two started to play the requested song, Shane smiled at him widely once he recognized the tune: [La vie en rose](https://open.spotify.com/track/0VxocBntP1XTZRsR9ZURPS?si=0ik2ceuERBSZ35vAVVCe9w) from their playlist. “Should I let you lead, Duke Bergara?”  
  
“Please do, Mr. Madej” Ryan laced their fingers, placing a hand on Shane’s waist as the other placed his free one on Ryan’s shoulder.  
  
And maybe it wasn’t an impressive dance, but it was full of adoration, and love, and words that weren’t said but were in different ways.  
  
(“ _You’re amazing, Shane.”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“You’re quite amazing yourself, Ry.”)_

  
They swayed gently to the music, slowly getting closer to each other, and even if there were eyes watching them intently, it never felt like that. It was as if they were back in Ryan’s room illuminated by the dim lighting, as if this was still their little secret waiting to be told to everyone but also kept between each other forever.  
  
As the song slowed to a halt, they kept looking at each other in the eyes lovingly, Ryan caressed Shane’s cheek feeling that he was clean shaven, Shane took his hand and gave it a gentle kiss, and that was the moment.  
  
Ryan took a step on his tip toes and pushed Shane to him, their lips softly melting together into a kiss. It was short lived, since they soon after heard the crowd around them erupt into cheers but it felt like enough.  
  
They smiled once more, Shane giving a small kiss to Ryan’s forehead, then bowing and thanking them for letting him dance with _Duke Bergara_ . The music soon changed to something more groovy, but Shane and Ryan stayed together.  
  
“You never told me you liked me,” Ryan whispered.  
  
“I thought you caught on, after all, you enchanted me with your powers” Shane whispered back, fighting back a laugh.  
  
They both soon erupted into laughter, and Ryan decided to finish their little confession with something would be unlike them if they weren’t where they are right now.  
  
“You could say you see la vie en bleu, due to all the ocean you’re beneath.” Ryan smiled as he saw Shane wheeze at the comment, he turned his head and kissed Ryan tenderly once more, as he pulled away his eyes glimmering with joy.  
  
Shane then sighed fondly, and whispered softly for only Ryan to hear, as if it were a secret:  
“Yeah, I see la vie en bleu with you, Ry.”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed!! comments and kudos are appreciated.


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